Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo
Read

Psalm 84:3

Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, LORD of Armies, my King, and my God.

1For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwellings, LORD of Armies!
2My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, LORD of Armies, my King, and my God.
4Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are always praising you. Selah.
5Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →
← Psalm 84:2Psalm 84:4 →
Notice

The swallow’s nest near God’s altars makes the longing for his courts concrete: even a small bird has a home where the poet longs to be.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What about the swallow raising her young near God’s altars draws your attention today?

Write on this

How does calling God “my King, and my God” shape the longing expressed in this verse?

Write on this
Connect

Where else Scripture says this

7 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 91:1He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.Both passages connect a place to dwell with nearness to God, using a nest and a shadow.
Matthew 8:20Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”Both mention birds having nests; Jesus contrasts their settled homes with his own lack of a place to lay his head.
Psalm 90:1A Prayer by Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.Home connects these prayers: birds dwell near God’s altars in Psalm 84, while Psalm 90 names God as his people’s dwelling place.
Psalm 43:4Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.God’s altar is a cherished place in both psalms, and both speakers address God as their own.
Psalm 5:2Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you.Both prayers address God as King and as the speaker’s own God, joining his rule with personal trust.
Luke 9:58Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”Birds have nests in both passages, while Jesus describes the Son of Man as having no place to lay his head.
Matthew 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen …Both passages picture birds with their young; Jesus uses a hen gathering chicks to describe his desire to gather Jerusalem’s children.
Where this verse fits

Feeling distant from God. loneliness. praise and worship.

What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about loneliness →What the Bible says about worship →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read verses 2–4 aloud, pausing at the nest

scriptureoncelight
Encouragement

Longing for God has a place in this song. The poet sees birds nesting near the altars and still addresses YHWH of Armies as his own King.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 84:3. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 84 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).